Minnesota Sports Forum

I'll say this about Beringer. He's so uncomfortable unless he's around the basket. He can set a good screen, but there's pick and pop or pick n roll game with him yet. It's there if he wants it, but let a middy fly just once to see where we are in that aspect. He has either zero confidence or green light to attempt anything outside of a shotput floater. His wind up needs work.

Rudy's passing looks very in tune. Best way I can put it.

Would have liked to have seen Shannon being the secondary ballhandler tonight but that's ok

JMac is still money in the paint. The three is coming along nicely. A couple of years ago he racked up 3 fouls in maybe 2 minutes and was immediately disengaged. He wanted to be out there tonight.

I've always believed that Anunoby is one of the better defenders on Ant. That didn't show itself tonight and I'm encouraged.

LaMelo's length almost makes up for the fact that his upper body strength is lacking. Don't let him be in a position where he's posting up someone, especially a bigger opponent.

Chris Finch is never gonna solve turnovers as long as he's coach. We'll be 18-23rd in turnovers, frustrating because they come in waves. We can look clean for a good 8-9 minutes, but the last 3 we turn off the controller.

That Bones layup with extra English followed by the Ayo steal to Beringer layup was the best Wolves play.

As for me, Wolves fans gave me a lot of hell. A lot of "Thanks for KAT", "Give us Donte back," not many Wolves fans at least in my section, but LaMelo and Ant got nice applause (Rudy still gets booed lustily for some reason). Otherwise I didn't get assaulted the way fans did in the playoffs. Knicks fans I guess now more than ever don't hate us. They'd love to see us in the Finals if it came to it.

I'm on record for saying Cody Williams is gonna suck and I still feel that way, but if there's a way to build him up, pretend he's rookie year Jaden and put him on that trajectory. I like that Finch would put him on Brunson which is what we did a lot with Jaden early on and he took to it. That won't make him better offensively, but it gives him an avenue to stay in the league.


Zyon is a keeper. Evans... I told you so. At least he hit a 3 tonight. You can count the amount of role players from Duke on one hand. Try thinking of some other than Luke Kennard and the Jones brothers

WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2026 7:02 pm That was an unnecessary T by Ant.

Ant really has to pick his spots. We can't have another season where we're praying for rescinded techinicals

I think he only had 9 last year, 8 less techs than Luka who played in just 2 more games than Ant. Had Ant played in 75 games last year it probably would have been closer to 12, but it was still an improvement over the previous year. Hopefully something that he has under control, the occasional tech will happen.

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2026 8:09 pm I’m getting really irritated by LaMelo’s turnovers!

Handles are bit loose in the preseason, we should expect some turnovers from the lead guard but he only averaged 2.8 last season and 3.2 for his career. Of the top assist guys last year, Luka averaged 4 per game, Joker 3.8. Cade 3.7, which was a nice improvement over the 4.4 turnovers he averaged the previous year. Hopefully Ball can keep them under 3.0 per game in the regular season.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2026 4:11 pm

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2026 8:09 pm I’m getting really irritated by LaMelo’s turnovers!

Handles are bit loose in the preseason, we should expect some turnovers from the lead guard but he only averaged 2.8 last season and 3.2 for his career. Of the top assist guys last year, Luka averaged 4 per game, Joker 3.8. Cade 3.7, which was a nice improvement over the 4.4 turnovers he averaged the previous year. Hopefully Ball can keep them under 3.0 per game in the regular season.

Yeah, while last night wasn't a good handle night for him, turnovers haven't been a huge problem for a guy who is so ball dominant. And also keep in mind the Knicks have some excellent ball hawks like Hart, Bronson, Bridges and Alvarado. And just think how many open looks he gave Ant, Jaden and Ayo last night...I don't remember a Wolves team ever having so many wide open threes! We made 53% of our threes. In contrast, we gave the Knicks very few wide open looks, and held then to 25%. 3-point differential is going to be a big part of our success this season.

Cody Williams played a role as a solid starter. He has exceeded my expectations in the preseason and I was a little optimistic about him in general. No he hasn't blown anyone away but honestly he has looked like a guy that can soak up minutes and not hurt you and he is still only 21. I'm not suggesting he is amazing but just start with playing a role when called on. He looks like he might be capable.

I'd like to see Evans play a decent amount in Iowa. Maybe being around the team and developing that way is what he needs though. It's too early to write him off but he isn't ready now but that's fine.

Meanwhile Pullin looks ready.

Bones is gonna get some minutes this season. It feels like he has some trust from Finch. He is not gonna be good every night but he is a vet with some legit skills. It's odd that when he comes in it might be a calmer dude than a couple other guards. Lol

I'm telling you Beringer does not have a shot. The guy can hardly shoot FTs. He might grow into a shot because he is a quick study all things considered but honestly Rudy might be a guy I would trust taking a shot outside of 4 feet from the basket than Beringer. That may sound harsh but it's true now...but he is 19 so it's a process. Joan is gonna give you good stuff and bad stuff. Just play him and enjoy the ride.

Clark has been kinda meh this preseason. His game isn't about shining it's about defending and doing dirty work. He hasn't made me feel better about his 3 point shot but it's a small sample.

Lyles is taking a high volume of 3's and making a decent amount. He looked a little better in this game.

He isn't making the roster and will likely be in Iowa but honestly Omier has looked kinda good for a training camp guy. His numbers in limited work are actually pretty good. Nobody has played less than Timme...which I guess is partly due to having 3 centers they are gonna play but he barely played in this one with the Wolves playing really small before giving him a handful of minutes at the end.

Reeves has looked pretty good. The question is his defense. I didn't think he looked bad and I like he can do a variety of things on offense including handle the ball and pass some. He is a different type of player but kind of has the diverse skill set of Ayo.

Speaking of Ayo he has jacked up a healthy amount of 3's. If he is a higher volume guy there and hits them...well that's gonna make him even more valuable. He took more of his threes in preseason that looked less like a guy standing there taking a set shot.

Frazier was really pleased with how the Wolves guys were playing in the 4th quarter. It was really nice offensive basketball he said they all looked connected etc. I agreed.

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2026 9:06 pm If the Knicks let Tony Bradley go should the Wolves sign him?

Yes...because he would be nice depth.

No because that would keep them from having a lot more flexibility to add a player later. Honestly I though Rocco looked decent enough in his preseason minute so far you could run him out there for a few games and a few minutes till you figured out what you need to do. Meanwhile Bradley or someone of his ilk will likely be available to sign if you need him in season.

Monster wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2026 10:38 pm I'm telling you Beringer does not have a shot. The guy can hardly shoot FTs. He might grow into a shot because he is a quick study all things considered but honestly Rudy might be a guy I would trust taking a shot outside of 4 feet from the basket than Beringer. That may sound harsh but it's true now...but he is 19 so it's a process. Joan is gonna give you good stuff and bad stuff. Just play him and enjoy the ride.

We haven't seen it in the pre-season yet, but he has shown the ability to hit the little push shot in the lane from 4-8 feet in Iowa and I think he made one in his only Summer League game as well. The mechanics of that shot are different than a pure jumper.

But yeah, there is ZERO indication that he is on his way to developing a true outside shot. Anyone with that awkward of a technique at the free throw line is a looooong ways away from canning 24-footers.

There is a lot to get excited about though with his dribble drive game and that push shot. Those can be further refined and developed in the coming years. And along with already being an elite lob target and offensive rebounder, he could eventually be a legit scorer, may be something akin to a Jalen Duren or Bam Adebayo.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2026 7:46 am

Monster wrote: ↑Tue Oct 13, 2026 10:38 pm I'm telling you Beringer does not have a shot. The guy can hardly shoot FTs. He might grow into a shot because he is a quick study all things considered but honestly Rudy might be a guy I would trust taking a shot outside of 4 feet from the basket than Beringer. That may sound harsh but it's true now...but he is 19 so it's a process. Joan is gonna give you good stuff and bad stuff. Just play him and enjoy the ride.

We haven't seen it in the pre-season yet, but he has shown the ability to hit the little push shot in the lane from 4-8 feet in Iowa and I think he made one in his only Summer League game as well. The mechanics of that shot are different than a pure jumper.

But yeah, there is ZERO indication that he is on his way to developing a true outside shot. Anyone with that awkward of a technique at the free throw line is a looooong ways away from canning 24-footers.

There is a lot to get excited about though with his dribble drive game and that push shot. Those can be further refined and developed in the coming years. And along with already being an elite lob target and offensive rebounder, he could eventually be a legit scorer, may be something akin to a Jalen Duren or Bam Adebayo.

Thanks for sharing that Q. I do remember him having a shot like that when he was warming up in SL and it looked him he could hit it and it was reasonably comfortable with his right hand although he doesn't get a whole lot of extension on it. So yeah maybe expand it out to 8 or maybe 10 feet. Outside of that we are currently in Rudy territory. Like you said the good thing is he can actually handle the ball and attack and has shown some ability to finish with some creativity. With that along with his athletic ability if he can eventually defend at a high level especially as a highly switchable big that's gonna be a really nice player even if he never has a jumper.

I swear his FT shot looked much more "normal" last season than the damn ugly form he is using now. He shot 70% from the line last season. The new FT form does nothing to help him develop an outside shot.

Come on, Joan. Abandon that ugly MFer!

60WinTim wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2026 9:22 am I swear his FT shot looked much more "normal" last season than the damn ugly form he is using now. He shot 70% from the line last season. The new FT form does nothing to help him develop an outside shot.

Come on, Joan. Abandon that ugly MFer!

That's how I remember it too. I don't know what happened to lead him to what he's doing this year.